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The Kasabian Campaign - Episode 1

I've worked quite a few months on these maps, and now I can finally release it; The Kasabian Campaign! Utilizing brand new patch values this fully fledged campaign let's you take on dozens of deadly and actually competent AI's as the Keeper Kasabian. These maps can get quite hard and most Keepers are above anything you'll have faced before, even the strongest AI's in the vanilla campaign, so I'd advise you to play a few of those as warm-up first before attempting this campaign. Furthermore, these maps are strictly for version 1.3 - 1.51 and its competent AI, I won't port this to 1.7, simply because it is pointless with the current state of the Keeper AI there. Also, it would be an advantage if you would set the game speed to 150% in the Skirmish menu before playing these maps. They were all tested with this game speed and the pacing in general will be a lot better.

The Kasabian Campaign - Episode One

General Information

These maps use a new, different Balancing system compared to the one you're used to. Furthermore all of these maps need to be run by the commando line, no exceptions. I'll include a tutorial for that as soon as I can if someone doesn't know how to do that. Currently this campaign has 22 full levels plus 1 Secret Realm, though mind you, this is only Episode One of the story. They're supposed to be played in order, so you don't get a drastically increase in difficulty all of the sudden, but in the end it is up to you I guess. Each level has its own description and some images included. I'll put the Thumbnails in Spoiler tags too, because I'd advise you to play these levels without looking at them. It'd take some mystery away from the realms when you know the general layout beforehand, but feel free to look if you want to do so.

Aside from that I'd advise you to actually read the descriptions of the maps below, the story messages there will often give you hints to what you're up against and should be taken into consideration when playing the maps. This campaign follows a Spin-Off from the normal DKII story; Here Lord Pureheart actually managed to defeat Keeper Malice (aka, you in the official campaign) in Stonekeep, and Nemesis has supposedly been killed by the three Princes. You'll delve into parts of Harmonia at times, but most of the time you will fight behind or at the borders of the Kingdom since as Keeper Kasabian you'll fight with a few different goals. Aside from that, have fun!

Also, I'm always open to criticism and suggestions. ; )

The Download Link is further down, btw.

Campaign Overview

Story Arch:

So Keeper, you've finally returned? It seems like in the end, you defied the Dark Gods to follow your rightful path of destruction once more! So be it. A lot has changed in the last few years and I'm sure you'd like to get a detailed report of what events have recently taken place. The nearby Kingdom of the Heroes, Harmonia, became the target of a few lesser Keepers, as well as two powerful ones - Malice and Nemesis. Even though word has reached the rest of us that their attempts at taking the kingdom for their own were fruitless, it has caused a major uprising. Keepers from all around the underworld suddenly became interested in making their ways to the overworld and all come forth to invade Harmonia now. We even got word that Grand Keepers like Hades, Prometheus or Leviathan are leaving their imperturbable empires to claim Harmonia for their own. I am sure you still remember them from your last encounter.

It is kind of ironic, this massive wave of Keepers heading for the same place at the same time, something that almost never happened in history, marks the moment of your return. I'd say it was the will of the Dark Gods, but since you challenged them personally and defied their wills that thought is almost laughable. Still, you escaped their wrath so it looks like maybe someone has your back and your soul isn't as lost as it would have seemed. Either way, the time has come for the Butcher to return; for the slaughtering to continue, for the Keeper population to drop drastically once again! May every Keeper tremble in fear again because their merciless slaughterer, Keeper Kasabian has revealed himself again!

Your Rivals

Grand Keepers:

These mighty Keepers rose above anything else in the Underworld, only the Dark Gods and their chosen Champions rival them. They can slaughter entire kingdoms on their own and fear no threat from ordinary Keepers. Aside from you there are only the Keepers Leviathan, Charon, Prometheusand Hades that have reached this status.

Master Keepers:

Master Keepers are ruthless overlords that have proven their strength in countless battles against formidable opponents. Do not underestimate them, for they stand way above their incompetent brethren. As off now several Master Keepers are heading for Harmonia.

Greater Keepers:

Even though Greater Keepers might not be as capable as Master Keepers, they can be a serious threat, especially if they're allowed to form alliances. Lots of these fools are heading for Harmonia, hoping to achieve in what Malice and Nemesis failed. The amount of these Keepers is really massive, but I'm sure that'll change once your work is done here...

Stalwart Keepers:

Stalwart Keepers are no fools. They know what they are doing but are no more than an annoyance to their superior brethren.

Lesser Keepers:

Almost not worth mentioning these upstarters will offer the least amount of resistance out of any foe you'll encounter. Them heading for Harmonia is more or less begging to be crushed. Only a few of these fools have been sighted as off now.

Mission One - SUPREMACY

Story Arch:

Keeper Dagon has finally been located. Like we assumed he was fortifying himself somewhere in the Origo Realms. Typical, it had to be somewhere with water dripping from every crack. So be it, it'll be a cold grave for him once you're done here! Dagon is most likely not suspecting an attack, seeing as no one has challenged him for these desolate realms, so use this to your advantage. He may have a headstart on you for now, but he should be no big threat to someone with your prowess. May Dagon be your first victim, tonight the rivers and lakes in all of the Origo realms shall be tainted by Keeper blood!

Objectives:

- Slay Keeper Dagonon his own home ground!

Sub-Objectives:

- N/A

General Information:

This will be the start of your campaign and will introduce the first few creatures, spells, traps and rooms alongside with your first enemy Keeper. He will be relatively easy to defeat compared to your later enemies, but do not underestimate him! Dagon won't allow his creatures to be slaughtered and if he is left alive for too long he will strike at your dungeon mercilessly. There are generally a few tactics on how to defeat him, play a bit around and remember well what you learn from your fights against him for it might come in handy later, when you face more powerful opponents.

It seems like we have found our next foe, Keeper Olisha. She is well known to corrupt the mind of her enemies to make them her puppets. As far as we know she does so without using any kind of torture. How boring. Furthermore this tactic is a cheap knockoff of what the Greater Keeper Damballa does. Originality seems to be a difficult concept to grasp for this bungler. Anyways, since she prefers to use this strategy, she camps to the east of a smaller Observation Outpost from the Heroes now. Thus she has not made a move for the Portal in this realm; instead she built her dungeon next to larger Gold deposits. Even though her little trick and her location might give her a little advantage in the beginning, a true Keeper can make more out of less if forced to do so. And he can use it to crush opponents seemingly more powerful. Show her the error of her ways by slaughtering her targets and her pets! Then stomp her heart into the ground and we can call it a day!

Objectives:

- Breach the Heroes defences
- Crush Keeper Olisha

Sub-Objectives:

- Claim the Prison to strengthen your ranks with the Undead
- Keep Olisha from claiming any Hero Gates to prevent her from getting reinforcements
- Write a nice, little poem

General Information:

This will be your first contact with the new Hero forces. Use your knowledge from Supremacy to bring them down before you have a standoff with Olisha. She uses Heroes too, but she has no Portals. All she has are the Heroes she starts with, whatever reinforcements she can get from Hero Gates and a Graveyard to strengthen her ranks with Vampires. Still, don't think she is harmless just because she has no access to a Portal. If she catches you unprepared, you'll most likely fall under her wrath in a matter of minutes. Be prepared, and when you are sure that the major fights are over, move in and kill her mercilessly. Also, Rogues will come in very handy if you manage to train them up to high levels.

Here in the realm of Mandtum the Heroes from Harmonia created a big fort to keep evil forces from entering the Kingdom through the east. However, this structure was never properly finished before Keeper Nemesis passed through here. Even though they tried to rebuild it after he was gone, it is still an unorganized and messy place. Their current leader, Lord Tiberius, has made no effort to change that situation. On top of that, the Greater Keepers Abaddon and Apollyen have their own plans of tearing this fortress down again. It was actually believed that both these names were synonyms for the same powerful Master Keeper, but it seems like this assumption turned out to be wrong. So they undoubtedly don't possess the status of a Master Keeper on their own, and exactly this should give us a big advantage over them. As threatening as they might appear together, seperated they will fall easily. Furthermore, now that we have relocated into Nemesis' old dungeon we made a surprising discovery; The Horned Reapers seem to be heading for Harmonia as well! Them appearing here is quite unusual, considering they weren't even anywhere close to the kingdom a few months ago. Still, these few Reapers here seem to be offering their service to us if we help them against the surrounding hero forces. Now that's an offer we won't turn down, will we? Use these powerful beasts to wipe the Hero Fortress of the face of the realm, and then destroy the pathetic Keeper Duo that has challenged them!

- Free all Horned Reapers for maximal carnage
- Steal the hidden treasures of the Heroes

General Information:

Ahhh, here you will finally get to see the fury of the Horned Reapers! Even though your enemies have vastly bigger armies, your Reapers can defeat them all if you micromanage the fights. Just make sure to free the Reapers and to keep your treasury filled; these guys take a lot of cash. And be careful in case the Heroes might try anything!

Look who revealed himself; it is the good old Keeper Mephistopheles! And it seems like he hasn't changed for all the time you were gone. Like always he is aiding another Keeper, but this time he has chosen a rather weird ally; namely Keeper Nemesis. Yes, the one who died in Harmonia. Mephistopheles claims to be one of the higher ranking Keepers in a newly created alliance called 'The Covenant', that appointed Nemesis as their leader. Neither have we come across any other members of this weird association yet, nor is there any proof for Nemesis being alive. All we can think of is that Mephistopheles finally went insane after being without company for such a long time. Either way, he is a well-known Keeper and killing him might finally make a Grand Keeper notice us. Should we achieve that, you could finally be able to wrap up your vendetta against them, as well as dethroning them and taking their titles for your own! However, we are not the only ones to challenge him. The lesser Keepers Erebus and Flauros have allied to take Mephistopheles down, a rather futile move to be honest. Slaughter them and then get back to the real fight!

(Note, solving riddles will always give you a certain extra, so make sure to give 'em a try)

General Information:

Everyone aside from Mephistopheles relies on the Gold here, so make sure to get as much as possible and protect it from the other Keepers. Assault one of your weaker rivals to get a Portal, but don't just rely on that to strengthen your ranks.

We just received word of a Prince making a trip into a realm not too far from us in the South. This should be the perfect spot for our rivals to gather, so this is where we shall head as well. But wait! Is this is another Keeper I sense? ... Oh by the Dark Gods, how the hell is this possible? Not only were Mephistopheles' ramblings about this 'Covenant' apparently true, no, some of them were actually waiting nearby and managed to trap you in this desolate wasteland! The lesser Keepers Hecate and Verin are blocking our ways to the West and East while their commander Ceberus prevents us from leaving through the South. Well, if they think trapping you is a wise move we shall show them the error of their ways. Take them down one by one and end this pointless 'Covenant' before it starts to spread to all the other Morons heading for Harmonia! Verin is easily the worst foe you'll have to face; he is hotheaded and has no sense for proper tactics. Hecate on the other hand will be much more disciplined; however, she is rather hesitant and will probably shy away from attacking you before it is too late. Ceberus is an arrogant but rather wise tactician; however, he will most likely not bother with us until it is clear that his sidekicks can't defeat us. Fool, this is something that should have been clear to him from the beginning!

Objectives:

- Push of your ambushers Ceberus, Hecate and Verin

Sub-Objectives:

- N/A

General Information:

Make sure your defenses are set and your creatures well trained. You should get attacked quite soon and you have to beat each of these Keepers off to win. Also, rushing them is really, really hard. I wouldn’t suggest a true rushing tactic, but rather an attack on green or Yellow after your somewhat prepared if you want to play offensively.

It seems like a big fight ensured not too far away from here. Multiple Keepers got stranded in this insignificant realm due to the Master Keeper Nexus challenging the Heroes close to the southeastern border of their kingdom. It seems like almost all of them immediately changed their plan, aside from one madman who thinks he stands a chance against the combined force of Nexus and the Heroes. We'll see how that turns out soon enough. Today we will show this group of pathetic wretches that a true Keeper doesn't run from battle! Keeper Azazel easily stands as your strongest enemy here, but luckily Aguares challenged him as soon as he got word from his presence. While they are occupied we will most likely have to engage in a three way battle with Keeper Euryale and Decarabia. The former one thinks she can hide her presence from her enemies for long enough to build up her strength while the latter believes herself to be in an unimpeachable position. Deal with them in an appropriate manner and then go after whoever is still alive.

Objectives:

- Defeat your rivals Azazel, Euryale, Decarabia and Aguares

Sub-Objectives:

- Gain Control of the Gems

General Information:

This is a Free-for-All map and it is actually rather easy compared to the ones you'll see later due to more restrictions regarding high end creatures. You’re also not under as much pressure as in Survival, even though your opponents should not be underestimated. Take them down before they do so with you, that is pretty much all there is to it.

So it seems like Nexus laid waste to the Hero fort in a grand scale. Most of their forces lie dying in the remains of what once was their proud castle. The survivors have mostly fled into the upper levels of their structure and cower in hiding while only leaving a few guards behind to warn them from another attack by Nexus. They are cut off from reinforcements and desperate while Nexus prepares for another final invasion to wipe them out in a grand battle. Lord William and his followers won't go down easily, that much is for sure, but eventually they will. Meanwhile the nameless Keeper who challenged Nexus got first repelled by the Heroes, and then wrecked by Nexus forces. It seems like he didn't take the lack of a portal into account or generally lacked the concept of planning. However, we can work with this situation. The remains of Nexus' pitiful rival, as well as whatever remained intact in the Hero keep will be of good use to us, while the remaining hero forces could easily be provoked into staging desperate attacks on Nexus. Or maybe we could cut off their limbs and throw them into prison? The choice is yours Keeper, if you should find a way to lure them out of their hiding spots... Wreck Nexus and kill any Hero left alive in this realm, victory can and will only be yours!

- Dig down the pillars in the main chambers of the Hero keep to collapse the ceiling and force these bunglers out of hiding
- Deal with Nexus scouts who might roam around. Properly

General Information:

Now this realm is quite different to the one before. Here you will win by careful resource management, efficient exploration and creativity. Use Sight of Evil to plan your first steps and then take over the Hero fortress. By digging down the fortified walls around the Impenetrable Rock - Pillars in the big main chambers of the Hero Fort, you'll release Hero Parties from the ceiling that will either attack you or Nexus, or might wander around aimlessly. Use this to get an advantage over your rival.

The rumor about a prince venturing out here did not only prove to be wrong, there are in fact no Hero forces at all in this realm! It was all a trap, set up by the Grand Keeper Hades who most likely wanted to eliminate all opposition before attacking Harmonia itself. Finally, after fighting so many lower class enemies one of our main targets didn't just reveal himself, he basically invited us over! So be it, his slaughter shall let every Keeper know of your return and it will finally let you arise as a Grand Keeper yourself again! But be wary, Hades will have amassed a tremendous Legion to slay his opponents. And their minions will most likely end up as his Undead Shock Troops. Furthermore, he is known for his great strategic mind on the battlefield and the complexity of his dungeons that he riddles with countless of death traps. Taking him down will be your biggest challenge yet, and without a big disposal of resources it will be nigh impossible to defeat him. So take what you can from your weaker rivals! Keeper Andromalius cowers in a defensive position to the west and holds onto a couple of Gems. He is probably the second strongest foe you'll have to face in this realm. Keeper Mania and Keeper Gremory allied once they noticed that they fell for a trap, but the latter broke this alliance after a short time for no apparent reason. But she is known to be insane and of a short temper, so this comes less of a surprise. At the end of the food chain comes Gremory. She may be preparing for an Invasion by Hades right now, but she will not expect you to fall into her back. And you better kill all of these Keepers before Hades does and turns their dungeons into his own barracks. Stay strong Keeper!

- Make contact with the neutral group of Salamanders
- Find the Ancient Specials used to slay enemy creatures with your Hand of Evil

General Information:

Your first Grand Keeper, and a quite challenging one indeed. To defeat him you need the Portals of your other Rivals, and you need to train your minions up as high as possible! Hades Legion will annihilate everyone he chooses to attack, to withstand this attack you need a huge army yourself. Plus you need to push down into his dungeon to take his heart out. It might be a better idea to fight him at different fronts at the same time, instead of going toe to toe with him. The method is yours for the choosing.

In this yet unexplored realm the Heroes are currently looking for riches to afford repairs for lands where evil forces have recently wreaked havoc. Our rival, the Greater Keeper Malphas however, has challenged them for these resources and is preparing for their forces right now. They will most likely stage counter attacks soon, but it is doubtful that they will get far. Malphas is not known for giving in that easily. Another, lesser known Keeper, Kimaris, tried to slip into this realm undetected too. And even though Malphas and the Heroes are unaware of his presence, we know well where he is hiding. Both, he and Malphas must die. But be careful though, they own all the Portals in this realm, a reason why we put Hades Prison-Complex to a good use before we left. Use your Undead Minions to inflict terror on the Heroes and then let them march forth against your rivals!

Objectives:

- Slay your Rivals Malphas and Kimaris

Sub-Objectives:

- Destroy the Hero Outposts

Riddle:

- It seems someone is short of Vampires and they are willing to trade some in for a fresh pair of Reapers!

General Information:

Well, train your Undead up on the Heroes, destroy their Outposts when you find the time and then wipe your Rivals out! Once you gain control of the two Hero Prisons or the Graveyard you'll be able to build these rooms and enlarge them to get a bigger army. Until then, be wary with your troops and don't engage in fights with the big explorer groups from the Heroes! In fact, it might be wise to delay your expansion until you are sure that the Heroes have passed the area you want to dig to, to avoid giving them a shortcut right through your dungeon.

Keeper Demediel challenges you personally it seems and to deliver this message he sent one of his Underlings, Keeper Raum. The conditions are that you have to kill him first, something Raum is seemingly laughing about. Well yes, he is right. What could a powerful Grand Keeper like you do to a pathetic bungler like him? Show him what true power is so we can take on Demediel. He will be a more worthy foe indeed, though that will mostly be because of him using some of his servants in that fight. As if that would matter to us, it simply means that we can crush his entire empire within one major battle! But wait... is that a Hero Presence I sense? Oh, these fools realize that they stand no chance against us and yet they still send some troops to spy on our fight with Raum? Once he is dealt with you shall put their heads on spikes! Convert their leader and together with your army send him back where he came from to show them what you think about this! Send these Heroes a message to not anger you again!

Objectives:

- Kill Keeper Raum

- Convert the Leader of the Hero forces

Sub-Objectives:

- Destroy both Hero Keeps to the North

General Information:

Beware; I won't throw a single Keeper at you this late into the campaign for no reason! He is way stronger than Dagon and you have to be very fast at building your dungeon and creating your army to even stand a chance against his takeover attempts! So be swift and expect a hard fight with Raum. The Heroes after that are not much of a problem, but don't just let your creatures kill the Knight leading these forces, for if you do so you will still lose! Convert him and this mission will be completed successfully.

Here we go, let us put an end to this foolish challenge! Keeper Demediel fortified himself in the middle of a large lake with two of his strongest followers to his sides. They are devoted to him completely and even see themselves as the 'sons' of his empire. Weirdos. Well, we know a good cure for that! Destroy them and then launch an attack on their master! We also got word from small Hero forces in this realm. They might not be many, but they could prove to be quite dangerous if pushed into combat. It might be best to delay their destruction until a bit later, or you can ignore them completely if you want to. What matters is that Demediel and his servants fall!

This level was designed with the 'Nemesis' feeling in mind, with a small Hero presence, two weaker Keepers and one strong Keeper. You'll probably have to face the weaker once first before using their resources to take out Demediel. Be wary of the Heroes though! They might not have much at their disposal, but they will fight back relentlessly.

It appears that the Master Keeper Legion doesn't like what we did with all those Keepers recently and he now stands against us with his band of nameless Keeper slaves. They are sieging us as of now and are preparing for a large scale invasion. You must act quickly and take them out before their armies start swarming us. Take one of the dungeons by force and build up your own Legion to deal with them! However, this realm was under Hero control before Legion started to slaughter them. They may be willing to offer their assistance if we should come across them...

This is a truly challenging map. There isn't much Gold, you start without a Portal and the enemies are way stronger than you. The only advantage you have is that you start with Hero forces that are generally a bit better than their creature counterparts. Make sure to keep them alive and use them as your Elite force, because you won’t have enough Gold to afford all the units you will get from Portals, once you’ve captured them. Also, exploration is pretty important here. You might find a few nice surprises...

Winter is coming and forces the heroes to move their main forces to flashpoint areas to save resources, while they have to leave other zones weakly defended. However, two Keepers have made preparations to destroy one of the stronger garrisons before this happens. The Heroes here, led by Lord Lancelot, are expecting a Keeper to attack them, but they don't know there are actually three Keepers cowering around their castle. Keeper Harkan, who comes forth from the inner Harmonia, and is known to be one of Nemesis main commanders during the first major invasion on Harmonia, lays sieges the castle for unknown reasons. Keeper Lucifer most likely wants to gain access to the Southern parts of the kingdom through this Keep. And we of course seek the demise of each of them. Take down Harkan and Lucifer, on top of that slaughter the Lord of the Land and his bodyguards! The Heroes have been bothering you for long enough, it is time for payback!

Objectives:

- Destroy the Greater Keepers Harkan and Lucifer
- Kill the Lord of the Land and his Royal Guards

Sub-Objectives:

- Destroy the Hero Fortress

General Information:

In this realm you and two of your Rivals will face a big hero fortress. Whoever gets spotted on the lake first will draw their attention and will soon be attacked by a large Invasion force. Should you want to take them on yourself I'd advise you to build a large amount of traps first. Should they go after your Rivals; the fight can go both ways. Either the Heroes win and return to their castle, or the Keeper survives and rebuilds his army. They might also choose to go after the Lord himself later on. All in all this is probably one of the most dynamic maps in this campaign; it can play in a lot of different ways.

The Hero forces in this realm were no match for the Keepers who found themselves stranded here, powerful Overlords by the names of Moloch, Loki, Wendigo, Astarte and Baal. These Keepers want nothing but the blood of any goodly forces of this once peaceful land. The remaining military forces of these Heroes have now allied with Keeper Baal who will use them to their full extent to wipe out anyone daring to oppose him. Astarte and Wendigo are preparing their forces to stage attacks on him, while Moloch stays in the defense for now. Loki sure as hell plans on screwing them over like he is known to do. All in all this is surely goin’ to be a total mess with everyone trying to slit each other’s throat. Choose your method Keeper and defeat them all! Meanwhile it seems like our old acquaintance Keeper Lillith is fighting with Buné in a nearby realm. This will be interesting to say at least, we shall investigate this further once we are done here.

CITIZEN ERASED - A

Story Arch:

A few creatures deserted your rivals to join your side. Put them to a good use.

Objectives:

- Slay your rivals Baal, Wendigo, Astarte and Loki

Sub-Objectives:

- Find the hidden Specials

General Information:

Choices! Yeah, every CE level will play out with a different play style in mind. Version A is probably the easiest and forces you to crush your weaker Rivals to get even with your stronger enemies.

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CITIZEN ERASED - B

Story Arch:

A few Heroes join your cause, but they alone won't be enough to overcome your enemies. The few Mistresses that tagged along from your last conquest present you the solution to change this...

Objectives:

- Slay your Rivals Baal, Moloch, Astarte and Loki

Sub-Objectives:

- Find the hidden Specials

General Information:

Version B forces you to adapt to your situation and to get converts in order to defeat your rivals.

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CITIZEN ERASED - C

Story Arch:

A band of local thugs offer their assistance to you.

Objectives:

- Slay your rivals Baal, Wendigo, Astarte and Loki

Sub-Objectives:

- Find the hidden Specials

General Information:

Version C is easily the hardest and forces you to torture information out of your enemies’ troops to pit them against each other and then move in for the kill and their dungeon.

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CITIZEN ERASED - D

Story Arch:

The legions of your enemies are strong and unforgiving. Luckily we have the means to counter their advance with intelligent and strategic planning.

Objectives:

- Slay your Rivals Baal, Moloch, Astarte and Loki

Sub-Objectives:

- Find the hidden Specials

General Information:

In Version D you will rely on traps to overcome your enemies.

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CITIZEN ERASED - E

Story Arch:

All forces in this realm are under the command of one of your rivals. However, their fighting will prove useful to us as we raise the Undead to infest this realm!

Objectives:

- Slay your Rivals Baal, Moloch, Astarte and Loki

Sub-Objectives:

- Find the hidden Specials

General Information:

In Version E you will use the Undead to slay your rivals.

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CITIZEN ERASED - F

Story Arch:

With caution and careful planning we will first take over the hideouts of the remaining Heroes and then strike at our Rivals from out of nowhere!

Objectives:

- Slay your Rivals Baal, Moloch, Astarte and Loki

Sub-Objectives:

- Find the hidden Specials

General Information:

In Version F you have to build your dungeon in the caves and you will have to use Barricades and Freeze Traps in order to make your ranged fighters invulnerable to enemy attacks while they take out their troops.

So it seems like Keeper Lillith wants to form an alliance with you. She knows you well, so it is a weird request from her. It seems like her fights with the Undead Keeper Buné went out of hand and that she is now losing ground. Regardless, her negotiator now sits in our Prison, so the method is yours for the choosing. Either send him back with our regards or take his head on a spike. She most likely knows it anyways; she will die by your hands in the end. However, there is another Keeper interfering with our initial plans and set his dungeon up right next to us. A short term alliance might be a good way to cripple him enough for your forces to go in for a quick kill. In the end it can only be you who leaves this fight alive, and we know well who that will be!

Objectives:

- Slay Keeper Buné and Lillith
- Destroy the bungler Keeper Abatu

Sub-Objectives:

- Form a short term alliance with Lillith
- Find the Undead left to rot by their Master Buné and recruit them to your cause

General Information:

To create an alliance, simply drop the Warlock she sent to negotiate at the tile shown in the Intro. But remember that you want her slain, you will automatically break the alliance once Buné is dead. However, don't think you can abuse this by having your army nearby her heart. If she catches even one of your creates near her Heart Chamber she will turn against you. Also, if left alone the battle between Lillith and Buné can easily go both ways, so prepare to meet either a lot of Undead forces, or Lillith's elite fighters that survived the battle.

Keeper Damballa seeks to reign over this land and he has yet to meet competition. It seems like he isn't as cowardly as he was once, facing heroes in those big numbers, but once he catches sight of you he will surely tremble in fear. His plans here are to forcefully get control of the Hero Castle. Their current leader, Lord Byron, still mourns over the loss of his wife and has neglected his duties. Damballa knows of this and will use it to gain an advantage in the coming battle. Like Olisha he will use the Hero Gates for his own purpose to manipulate new arrivals to his side. We got word that he uses a once widespread method called 'Scavenging' for this. Unlike the weakling Olisha he won't close these Gates down as soon as the first group of naive adventurers joins his side. No, Damballa will keep these Gates open to restock and buff his ranks. Even though this will put him at risk to have groups of invaders appear in the middle of his dungeon, his ever growing army will surely counter balance that. However, if you should happen to challenge and divert his troops at the right time, his newly claimed empire will surely fall under all the pressure. This time Damballa won't escape your wrath! Kill him, and make sure it is only you who will be victorious!

Objectives:

- Kill the coward Keeper Damballa

Sub-Objectives:

- Close down the Hero Gates to cut Damballa's reinforcments off

General Information:

This level is similar to Madness as in that the enemy Keeper gets his reinforcements from Hero Gates and has no Portal. However, here it is mandatory to close down the Gates or better, to prevent your Rival from getting to them in the first place. He will get endless reinforcements from them until they are closed down, however, some of them will still spawn Hero Groups that will go after Damballa. Observe the situation and then do whatever will give you the upper hand in this fight. Once Damballa's forces are cut down, go in for the kill! Don't allow the Heroes to steal your victory! Also, you need to play really aggressively here to prevent your rival from getting to strong, or worse, to cut you off from the Gems in the Hero fort. This is pretty much preparing you for the next mission, were things will be even worse...

Keeper Kobal seems to be holding a competition for his own amusement; whoever manages to scare the Lord of the Land out of his Keep will gain his alliance against the other participants. Thus far two Keepers have engaged in this fruitless competition, Keeper Sonneillon and Keeper Vanth. Even though they are close to being considered Master Keepers they will most likely ally once they hear that you will take part in this as well. Usually this isn't our style, but if that is what we have to do to lure Kobal out of hiding, so be it. Having him on your side for the time that the other two Keepers are alive might prove to be quite helpful. Meanwhile while we engage in this pointless competition our scouts are close to locating the Undead Grand Keeper Charon. Buné's minions had quite some useful information about him. We also started picking up on Leviathan's trail. Not much longer and we shall face off with one of your old rivals again...

The idea of this mission is based on the official level 17 Moonshrine. Instead of fighting for the Temple you now fight to bring the Lord of the Land down so you gain a short term alliance with Kobal. Don't wait too long, attack the Heroes as soon as you have somewhat of a force at your disposal or your competition will succeed in this. That'd end up with three Keepers against you with Kobal constantly launching attacks at you, so it is better to avoid this. Feel free to play it defensively though, but keep in mind that these Keepers are deadly competent! To win the tournament it is mandatory to attack before the second payday!

So it seems like we finally located the Grand Keeper Charon. He camps to the east of a Hero fort and has already killed the Lord Churchill, destroyed their Hero Gates, and generally wreaked havoc to the place. His undead came out of nowhere when no one was expecting it and disappeared in the same fashion. Now all these pathetic Heroes do is trembling in fear of another attack by the Undead Hordes that marched through their territory last night. Wherever Charon is hiding, I'm sure he will come out of his hole once he sees that you are coming after him. Expect a long and bloodstained war with his Legions before he goes down. On a side note the Keeper Mastema appears to be following her own plans of challenging Charon. Shoot her dreams down and kill her before she gets out of control and starts screwing your plans over.

Objectives:

- Defeat your rival Mastema
- Crush the Grand Keeper Charon

Sub-Objectives:

- Free the heroic turncoats
- Convert the goodly forces to your cause

General Information:

Your second Grand Keeper is even harder to bring down. His undead hordes will steadily push you back until you finally manage to breach their lines and after that Charon's defenses might do the same to you. He will give you a lot of trouble before he goes down for sure. But before you even get there it's a Kill - or be Killed scenario with the Keeper Mastema who will use her DA's to their best extent to wipe you out. Luckily you start with two Reapers to compensate this. Still, she will be pretty tough, make sure you fight her where you want it and nowhere else! That pretty much means you should be the one launching an attack, otherwise things might get complicated...

Three of the most powerful Master Keepers still around have decided to form an alliance to bring you down. They join their mighty forces in a desperate attempt to stop your expansion and will try anything to kill you. Beware; this might be one of your biggest challenges yet. On top of that they sealed most resources away from us and Hero forces close to us protect the other riches of this realm. And apparently their leader Lord Mallory is trying to ambush us by hiding his Keeps from us. Explore this realm carefully and choose your first target wisely. It will be a hard fight indeed, but once you managed to weaken the enemy alliance, things should get easier. Do everything you can to get an edge over your remaining enemies and purge this realm from their influence! Wreck the Castle of the Heroes and kill their Leader for attempting to lure you into a trap and then repaint the walls of their fort with blood!

Objectives:

- Kill the allied Keepers Demogorgon, Vassago and Barbas
- Slay the Lord of the Land

Sub-Objectives:

- Wipe out every Hero you come across

General Information:

The second remake from my TFR campaign (with the first being Hysteria) this realm comes slightly re-designed with an even more capable AI. Beware; these Keepers are strong, whether they are in the defense or the offense. And they might choose to do both, especially Vassago who could easily try to attack the Hero Castle. Explore the realm carefully and then use all your tactical knowledge to wipe the weakest enemy out. Use the newly won resources and go straight after the second enemy. Also, if you though Baal was a tough enemy with his Hero forces, wait until you see Barbas...

We have finally located Leviathan. He camps close to the realms known as Emberglow and Snapdragon, now held strongly by Hero forces. In the land of Sunburn he constructed a vast fortress and trains up his legions that get sent forth against the goodly defenders of the kingdom. To finally get to him we have a few obstacles to overcome though. Here in this realm we are challenged by the mighty she-devil Keeper Prosperine who managed to steer up Keeper Ornias against us. This realm is rather poor on resources, so any massive dungeon you might plan to construct will become unsustainable after a short time. Prosperine and Ornias are just holding up because they share their riches with each other. So be swift with their kills, before your creatures start deserting. However, it might still be the best solution to hire some topnotch fighters here. I heard Reapers were sighted by the local Heroes in big numbers?

Objectives:

- Slay the Keepers Prosperine and Ornias
- Withstand the Heroes wrath

Sub-Objectives:

- Recruit the local Horned Reapers for your cause

General Information:

This level faces you with mighty opponents indeed. Both Keepers here will be extremely difficult to bring down without Reapers and the Heroes will use their opportunity to strike at you to its full extent once they think it's save to attack. Be careful, and try to get as many Reapers as possible. You will need them.

The last challenge we seemingly have to face will be the trickster Derisor who wants to steal the treasures of a bunch of corrupt Heroes led by the psychopath Mordrede and his cronies. The only reason why he dares to come this close to a Grand Keeper is because he thinks his illusions can keep him hidden from any threat. While that trick might work on the lesser beings like Heroes, it won't fool a good Keeper, especially not one of your or Leviathan's size. Build up your forces and lead them through his defenses personally to make him realize this mistake before you beat his heart into oblivion! Should the Heroes be inclined to stop you, do the same with their leaders! These last few foes are nothing but an obstacle in your way to Leviathan, so deal with them appropriately.

Objectives:

- Defeat Keeper Derisor personally
- Slaughter the corrupt Lord of the Land

Sub-Objectives:

- Tortur the Prisoners of the Lord
- Steal the riches of the Heroes

General Information:

This is quite the unusual way to defeat an enemy Keeper, no CTA or claiming of his domain here. No, instead you will lead your troops personally to first slaughter the Lord of the Land and then your Rival who will most likely try to hide his presence from you. Build up your army and then lead your troops into his dungeon. In fact, it might be a good idea to de-possess and lead the next band of warriors into his dungeon to maximize the damage.

Here you stand now, in front of the most powerful foe you have ever faced, the Grand Keeper Leviathan! He waits here in the realm of Sunburn and builds up legion after legion before sending them at the heroes. Like any Grand Keeper he is so powerful that he can direct his attention at neighboring realms without being physically present there. As off now he is leading his forces against the defenses of the King. And exactly that will be his downfall. An uprising already occurred recently, due to him ignoring the indifferences between his creature and hero forces and even though he is paying more attention to his castle now, we should be able to take him by surprise. Find survivors from the recent uprising. Sneak into his dungeon and claim it from under his nose before he notices our presence. Then move in and kill him in a grand battle! But beware, Leviathan managed to convert one of the three Princes of Harmonia and King Reginald entrusted his most powerful Commander, Lord Pureheart, with his recovery. If they try to interfere in any way, make sure to let them pay for it. Tear their skin off and throw them in a pit of salt before putting their pathetic remains on spikes! They should complement your new castle quite nicely. Come Keeper, slay your old advisory! Show those Dark Gods their place by taking down the most powerful enemy they could ever rally against you! Make sure that Leviathan's demise reminds them to not challenge you again!

- Recruit the creatures that deserted Leviathan
- Convert the Prince to your side

General Information:

There is nothing more to say, go on, win, and declare yourself as the victor of the Kasabian Campaign, the Slayer of three powerful Grand Keepers! (Note, for the final showdown with Leviathan you might want to turn DKII's graphic setting to Medium, since it'll be one of the largest fights you'll ever have in DKII with something like 150 units engaging in a massive final battle. Doing this should avoid any crashes, and the further you zoom in, the more stable the game seems to stay too, so keep these things in mind)

Keeper Buné had particularly useful information about where our old friend the Grand Keeper Charon might be. One of our best scouts has been gathering Intel to confirm these reports, but it seems like he got cut off from our dungeon and is being hunted down right now. The reinforcements we sent to him lie dying and only direct intervention from your side can save him and the Intel now. Make sure to get him out of there alive, we can't let this data slip through our hands!

Objectives:

- Kill whatever is lurking in these dark hallways and return the rogue to your dungeon

Sub-Objectives:

- N/A

General Information:

Technically this is supposed to be played before 'Liquid State', if you found the 'Locate Hidden World' special in 'Save Me'. This is pretty much a Possession map. Use your ranged attacks and run if things get dangerous. That's all I'll say, have fun!

Tired from engaging in wars with all of your Rivals all the time, Keeper? My scouts have found the perfect spot for a short vacation then! The heroes usually traverse through this realm to get to one of their farther off outposts, but we sabotaged their Hero Gates for them. They'll be stranded here and wil serve as a fine amusement show for us. Prepare an ambush and enjoy the slaughter, Keeper!

Objectives:

- Ambush the Hero forces

Sub-Objectives:

- N/A

General Information:

Get strong forces, train them up fast, build your defenses and slaughter the Heroes! That is all there really is to it. Be careful, the Heroes can get pretty strong later on!

Availability:

The 'Secret Level' Extra can be found in one of the last five realms, going from 'Liquid State' to 'Ruled By Secrecy'. Try to find it before playing this, or cheat and play it without finding it if you want to. It's more like an extra challenge anyways.

What to do next Keeper? I'm sure Leviathan's old castle is a nice vacation spot for now, but what will be your future plans? For one there is still the kingdom of Harmonia. These heroes have caused quite a few problems during our conquest and I'm sure you'd want to make them pay. Furthermore it seems like a few Keepers managed to breach the defense lines of King Reginald, among them our old Rival the Grand Keeper Prometheus. Keeper Carrion is leading the remains of the Covenant according to our latest update on his status. There is still enough work to do. We can go whenever you are ready Keeper, just give the word and we'll be on our way...

Now the way into Harmonia lays wide openn. Nothing but feeble heroes remain here to slow down your invasion. The fortress beneath the outer reaches of the province Sparklydell presents their last bastion to stop Keepers from entering their kingdom; it is blocking a fiery path that leads straight into the heart of their land. Tear down this mighty castle, crush it as you did with Leviathan's! Kill Lord Ascanius and destroy all the Hero gates and this realm shall be yours; a stepping stone into the real kingdom of Harmonia!

Objectives:

- Kill Lord Ascanius
- Destroy all the Hero gates

Sub-Objectives:

- Take control of the prisons and the graveyard

General Information:

This is going to be the first of three Aftermath missions. This will be the 2nd longest one, another one will have a short expedition to Sparklydell and the last and longest one will see you in control of Leviathan's old castle. Here you will find a big hero fortress with hundreds of heroes. To take them all down you will need to rely on unusual creature combinations and time your attacks well. Depending on whether you run out of gold or not you'll need to become a lot more aggressive than usual as well.

For now I'll take a break from map making, but be sure that I'll continue this story at some point. There still is Harmonia to conquer and you still have a few Keepers to deal with. Only thing I'll say now is that the second Episode will feature the Heroes more prominently and will include the King and a few other familiar faces. That's all there is for now, I'll inform you of any updates. My plans for now are to update this Episode whenever I see a reason to, and to make a few 'Aftermath' maps where you defend Leviathan's old castle against Invasions of Heroes or a band of Keepers. Episode 2 will probably come at some point during the next two years, though I might start with it sooner or later, depending on how I feel about it.

For a later update I might also create text based introductions for levels like Animals or Big Freeze, where I haven't used Mentor speeches for the Intro. A full changelog for each major update will be made available too.

Re: The Kasabian Campaign - Episode 1

Thanks! I really took my time with these maps to make them feel like a coherent campaign that brings a few fresh ideas for gameplay into DKII and generally reflects your progress in the later missions. I hope you and everyone else enjoys playing these maps as much as I did making them. Though I have to admit that the AI gave me headaches sometimes.^^

Re: The Kasabian Campaign - Episode 1

Alright, I updated the Download Link. The missions 'Stockholm Syndrome' and 'MK Ultra' are now available, furthermore I improved the AI's on 'Explorers' and Apocalypse Please'. I also gave every LotL a proper name now, the story will be updated accordingly. Make sure to download the updated maps before playing these levels!

Originally Posted by Duke Ragereaver

Kudos to you for the epic presentation and design! I will try to find my DK2 disc and get it to work to play this.

Re: The Kasabian Campaign - Episode 1

The file is now updated to Version 1.2. No 'new' stuff this time, but I improved a few levels, mainly the first few. Panic Station, Prelude and Follow Me have the biggest changes, with some of them having updated Patch Data which for one thing makes the Monk stronger. As soon as I have time to test the new Values for the other maps I'll have them updated with it for Version 1.3 as well. 1.4 or 1.5 will probably include the Aftermath Maps then, giving you 3 more Levels in total to play. With 32 levels the Campaign will then get no more new additions, but mainly bug fixes or improvements for the existing maps.

Re: The Kasabian Campaign - Episode 1

I really want to play these maps, but my attempts at playing from the command console aren't working, so included installations/tutorials for that would be great (Specifically, I think it doesn't like the route to my copy of DKII, which is in "Bullfrog Products Ltd")

Re: The Kasabian Campaign - Episode 1

Originally Posted by OneLastBattle

I really want to play these maps, but my attempts at playing from the command console aren't working, so included installations/tutorials for that would be great (Specifically, I think it doesn't like the route to my copy of DKII, which is in "Bullfrog Products Ltd")

Are you using version 1.3 or 1.51? Because this campaign is designed for these versions only, it won't work with 1.6 - 1.8. If yes, try to make a shortcut of your DKII EXE. Edit it and add ' -q -level "LevelName" ' in the Properties, changing "LevelName" to the name of the actual map you want to play. If you are still not sure how to do that I could make a tutorial wioth pictures later today!

Re: The Kasabian Campaign - Episode 1

Originally Posted by Skarok

Are you using version 1.3 or 1.51? Because this campaign is designed for these versions only, it won't work with 1.6 - 1.8. If yes, try to make a shortcut of your DKII EXE. Edit it and add ' -q -level "LevelName" ' in the Properties, changing "LevelName" to the name of the actual map you want to play. If you are still not sure how to do that I could make a tutorial wioth pictures later today!

Re: The Kasabian Campaign - Episode 1

You mean the Draraks Empire campaign? Honestly, I'm not sure if I even wanted to convert it to 1.3 in its current state as it has a lot of flaws due to me not being that experienced in map-making back then when I made these maps. If I were to convert it I'd need to update quite a few things which would take me some time. Especially now since I'm already working on a full Expansion pack for DKII which will be even more extensive than the Kasabian Campaign, if not only for the way I have to design the Campaign for it. I might have some time to redo the DE maps once I'll have the Demo for the Expansion Pack released though!